“Winter.” He smiled up at me, a genuine, pleased smile, and I felt like crying. At least there was one man here who was normal, who didn’t want to play games with me or make my life miserable.
“Winter? What’s wrong?” He stood up and tugged me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around him, letting his comforting embrace soothe me.
“Nothing. It’s just nice to see a friendly face, that’s all.”
He stepped back, looking down at me with concern. “First-day nerves?”
“Something like that,” I muttered.
“It’ll get better. You’re bound to find it tough coming in a year later than everyone else, when friendships have already been established. Stick it out, though. Things will improve.”
“I hope so,” I sighed, glancing back over to the table I’d left. The Four were all staring at me, with varying levels of hostility. Kinslee was staring between them and me, her expression helpless. As I watched, Caiden shot me another icy glare, then lowered his head deliberately to the girl on his lap, nuzzling her neck. A tiny, frustrated sigh escaped before I could stop it. Why was I so affected by him?
“Cavendish, huh?” James looked at me with a mix of resentment and sympathy in his expression. “I wouldn’t waste your time with him. He’ll discard you once he’s had his way.”
“Caiden doesn’t like me. And I don’t like him. And you know what? Funnily enough, he said something similar about you.”
James laughed. “I bet he did. The difference between me and Cavendish is I treat women with respect. I like to stay friends with anyone I sleep with, and if we’re both lucky enough, maybe we’ll take things further again.” He winked at me, and I laughed.
“I’d better get back. I don’t want to leave Kinslee alone for too long.”
As I turned to walk away, he called me back. “Winter? I think you’re wrong about him not liking you. He looked at me like he wanted to take me down a dark alley and beat the shit out of me when we were talking just now.”
I shook my head. “No. It’s all part of his game. He has it in for me, and I don’t know why. To be honest, you’re better off not being friends with me. Apparently, he’s declared I’m ‘off limits’”—I accompanied my words with another eye roll—“and I don’t want to give him a reason to cause trouble with you.”
“I’m not worried,” he assured me, and I raised a brow at him, unconvinced.
“If you say so. Anyway. Thanks for…being there, I guess. See you around?”
“You can count on it.” He smiled, sitting back down, and I made my way back to the table to join the others.
As I reached the table, the Four
stood, Caiden unceremoniously dumping Portia from his lap. She squealed in protest, and I couldn’t help sniggering under my breath.
“See ya,” Cassius said, the others acting like I wasn’t even there, and they sauntered out, a wall of sexy, tattooed, muscular testosterone, all eyes on them as they left.
“I get the feeling my life is going to become a lot more interesting with you in it,” Kinslee murmured as I flopped into my chair.
“You and me both,” I sighed.
FOUR
The next two weeks continued in the same vein—the Four were my frequent shadows, often accompanied by girls that seemed to resent my presence. As if I’d asked for the attention. Everywhere I turned, one of them was there. If I was especially unlucky, it was Caiden and his hostile glares, with his whispered insults and threats to make me leave. Or even worse, Zayde, with his blank, soulless stare, never saying anything, but tracking my movements with the intent of a predator sizing up its prey. It was starting to feel like I was inside a nightmare with no escape. Every scathing look they threw me chilled the blood in my veins, every hissed taunt and jibe cut me, but I refused to back down. There was no way I’d let them scare me away. I was here for a reason, and I wasn’t about to let a bunch of entitled rich pricks stop me, no matter how hard they tried.
Unfortunately, at the moment, I wasn’t getting anywhere in my search for answers, and, thanks to the Four’s presence, I was starting to feel a little isolated. Guys were staying away from me, other than James, and girls didn’t want to know me, thanks to their misplaced jealousy. At least Kinslee didn’t seem to be affected—I got the impression that she didn’t care about anyone’s opinion other than her own, and she’d made up her mind we’d be friends right from the first day we’d met.
It was a dull, windy Thursday afternoon when I headed into the Student Union bar with Kinslee. Despite the exclusive, old-money feel of the university, the bar was surprisingly ordinary—a large, L-shaped room in the basement of the Student Union building, with a long wooden bar down one wall, and tables and chairs and several sofas dotted around the space. There was a dance floor area in one half of the room which was used as an additional seating area during the day.
We made our way to the far corner of the room, where there were two pool tables along with a dartboard. I put a coin into the slot and started setting up the table ready to play while Kinslee got us drinks.
“Is this a private game, or can anyone join in?”
The now-familiar voice set my teeth on edge, and I straightened up, steeling myself for confrontation.
“Let me guess, King Caiden has you on stalker duties again?” Spinning around, I saw Cassius and Weston both eyeing me with amusement. At least Caiden and Zayde were nowhere to be seen.
“Nah, not today. West and I just happened to be passing through and saw you two beautiful ladies all alone, so we thought you might enjoy the pleasure of our company.” Cassius flashed me a grin, and I rolled my eyes.